Hey all,

Sorry for the long novel but it just got pretty long winded. I need to hear some ideas or bounce some thoughts off of people. Also it helps to write it down as well. This is about my 2002 F250 e extended cab 4x4 with the 7.3L. 6" Lift on 37's. 225k on it.

About 4 or 5 months ago I noticed a some rust in my drivers rear cab corner. I pushed on it and the outer metal was brittle and now I have a hole there. I've always wanted to learn how to weld and fabricate so I bought a replacement corner panel so in the future I can mess with it. About 2 months ago my plastic drivers door step broke. So I ordered so nice aftermarket steps.. I went under the truck to remove the broken part of the step from the cab. Well that came off along with a nice chunk of the rocker panel.. Big hole there now. So I returned the steps and have been just using the half of the broken factory step for now. Also the bed around the wheel wells are rusted. It looks like someone painted the truck to hide it and now the rust is starting to bubble the paint form underneath.

So now I have a truck with a good engine, good trans, lift and tires but a body in rough shape. I'm trying to come up with ideas on what I should do. I believe I have a few years left before the rust will overtake the cab with holes going to the inside so I'm trying to make a game plan. I did go to a body shop and they wanted 2k to fix the cab corner.. This was before I notice the rocker panel issue. Being this was my first vehicle purchase in a state where it snows I paid a service to inspect it before I bought it. (I'm an impulse buyer and would of got it regardless of what I saw). They said there was minor rust under the bed but nothing to be concerned with. Lesson learned on that..

I owe around $6,500 on it. Stock average condition they sell for 8ish and with lift/tires people are getting between 10-12k. Skill history I've swapped my 91 Nissan pickup engine/cab to a 4x4 frame. I've swapped a 96 mass air 351 motor into a 87 bronco. I've also did a straight axle conversion on the 87 bronco. (I had someone do the bracket welding for me) I used to work at 4 wheel parts doing suspension lifts. So I'm pretty competent and willing to do some things. I have a slab of cement on the side of the house so I have a place to work on it.

This is my daily driver right now and i do enjoy driving it. So now I need to start coming up with a game plan for the future and am not sure what avenue to take. I really don't want a bigger payment right now but what we want and what happens is not always the same thing. If I were to abandon this the only other truck I would want is a 2017+ F250 diesel Lariat so that would make a big payment increase right now. Ideally I'd like to keep this for another 3 years but would it be sellable at that time? Hell who knows if anyone who isn't a body shop guy would want to buy it now.

So what are some ideas on how I should proceed?
1) Just try to sell it now to get the loan paid off and go for a newer truck? Might be hard unless someone who is a body shop guy wants it.
2) Buy another truck and part this one out. Not sure if I could get enough for it. From what I've seen people aren't paying a lot of things nowadays.
3) Pay a shop to do all the cab rust repairs? That is going to be expensive
4) Try to find a donor cab/bed from CA/AZ with no rust to swap? More than likely I'd have to pay a shop as an engine hoist is not going to be idea for this. Also there are registration issues with that.
5) Find a rolling chassis with a blown motor/trans to swap my drivetrain into?. Might not be do able here at the house as everything I've read says it's best to remove the cab to pull/replace an engine.
Options 4/5 would have to wait 3 years until I buy another vehicle to drive during the down time.
6) Any other idea I'm not thinking of?

If you've lasted this long in the novel thanks and I appreciate any ideas and opinions you may have.

 

From another member who struggled with rust on an '06 F350. Many rust repairs. Bed off, sandblast and paint. Rocker panel repairs. Tailgate and rear wheel arches repaired. Also various other pieces and parts under the truck fixed. After all of this was done, the value of the truck really did not increase. Doing rust repairs on your truck would probably not raise the sale price enough to warrant the cost.

Lots of folk like the idea of owning a 7.3 diesel. My $.02 would be to see what you can get for your truck in its current condition and make a decision then. For a newer vehicle, any F-250/350 2012 or newer would probably make you happy. Do not pass up a 6.2 gas truck! After have owned a zero-problem 6.0 diesel, I purchased a gas 7.3. The gas engine is proving to be just fine. Easy starts in cold conditions and plenty of power. A 6.2 may not have the punch of a 6.7 diesel, but it will give as much or more power than your 7.3 diesel. Fuel economy will suffer, but newer trucks are thirsty since they are heavy and have the aerodynamic characteristics of a brick.

 

Thanks for the reminder about the 6.2. Base numbers it has 135hp more hp and is only 95 lbs of torque less than my 7.3 I had forgotten about that option. Currently I haven't towed anything in a couple years so have the 7.3 right now is just used to commute though town. Complete waste when a gas motor could do the same thing. I did tow quite often when I was in CA with my 01 7.3L. Loved that truck.. That's why I picked up this 02 here. In the spring we will start restoring my wife's 62 Mercury Comet. Once that is done we plan to tow it to car shows. We have also been considering getting a camping trailer. A Pull behind type. Not a gooseneck or 5th wheel. That's the reason behind the desire for a diesel. I know her 2018 F150 with the smaller V8 would pull what we want to do so a F250 with a stronger V8 would do it easy.

t does give me something to think about. Currently a 5 year old gas F250 is only 5k "ish" cheaper than a 5 year old diesel. If I am able to wait the 3 years until everything is paid off I'm willing to spend an extra 5k for a diesel and be able to pull anything anytime.

Side note. I have/am contemplating if I can make this one last long enough until I can get a newer truck to pull this one, I may just turn this one into a wheeler and do trails with it. *sigh* to many options that makes me chose a path dang near impossible. heh.

 

On a truck that old unless you have the means to do it yourself it will cost a fortune to have someone else do it. Bodywork like you are describing needing to be done is very time consuming.

 

The way you describe it it sounds like it rusted from the inside out. You need to poke and scrape around that thing to see if there's any other hidden rust. My 99 looked like it just needed one outer rocker and maybe a cab corner when I bought it and it turned into inner and outer rockers, 2 cab corners and floor pans. These things have alot of closed cavities that trap dirt and moisture.

 

This is just my opinion. With that said and considering you mentioned you still owe on the truck; your best option might be repairing the truck. Either doing the work yourself or hiring a local shop to do the repairs. Depending on how much you owe you may not be able to sell it for enough to pay it off and then you will have to take out another load to get a replacement truck new enough to not have the same problems.